Folks, If I did this right, there should be a map below of US Drought Condtions for the current week.The week I posted this the map read with the date May 8, 2012.There also some long term climate forecasts for the US also at the site in graphic form.

EDIT: you may need to click on map to refresh or press F5 (view/refresh) , then click again to get details of your local area.

Dave did you get those wicked thunderstorms tonight? After all the rain we've had the last few days, I'm pretty sure we've moved from "moderate drought" to "abnormally dry." The brooks are running free and clear now.

Bill, we've had rain for the past 3 weeks on Tuesday and Wednesday's. Our ponds and rivers are up, and grass is high. Not sure if we've made up the winter's 5.5" rainfall defict yet. The creek that cut' through my place was backed up through some 6'ft pipes on a neighor's drive, I think a long walk along it's banks are in order to look for beaver dams...<sigh>....

Thunderstorms were wicked, watched the clouds coming for a long way, which normally you can't see since. We were right under a lot of the red spots on the doppler and lost TV for about an hour.

FYI; from Albany Area Extension weekly ag report. I've gotta go talk to my hay guy. Not sure what he's got planned or how his field are. I try to get first cuttings, but I'm not so sure about this year.

Alfalfa: CHECK YOUR FIELDS FOR AL-FALFA WEEVIL DAMAGE. I saw considerable AW feeding damage—60 % to 80% of stem tips with feeding damage. This is a tough decision, since harvesting early may put more stress on the alfalfa following a stressful winter and spring. The next few days will be warm, so feeding damage will accelerate. On top of all this, grasses are heading out. With our current weather window, perhaps the best decision may be to harvest infested alfalfa soon, and then give it a lengthy period to grow before taking second cutting. Alfalfa has taken a beating and needs a good growth period to recuperate.

Grasses: Orchardgrass has headed out, I have seen fescue with the head 3/4 of the way up the stem and some that is completely headed out. I saw one bromegrass head. It is time to cut grasses.

Folks, USDA announced that CRP land has been opened for emergency haying - contact local office. Also, The Weather Channel announced that Iowa Gov declared disater proclimation for next 60 days and Wisc Gov done same and opened state lands to grazing. - Dave H.

The July 24 U.S. Drought Monitor showed widespread intensification of drought through the middle of the country, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The map also set a record for the fourth straight week for the area in moderate drought or worse in the 12-year history of the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The July 24 map put 53.44 percent of the United States and Puerto Rico in moderate drought or worse, up from 53.17 percent the week before; 38.11 percent in severe drought or worse, compared with 35.32 a week earlier; 17.2 percent in extreme drought or worse, compared with 11.32 percent the week before; and 1.99 percent in exceptional drought, up from .83 percent the preceding week.

“We’ve seen tremendous intensification of drought through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Arkansas, Kansa and Nebraska, and into part of Wyoming and South Dakota in the last week,” said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist and U.S. Drought Monitor author. “The amount of D3 developing in the country has increased quite a bit for each of the last several weeks.”

Fuchs also noted that as of the July 24 U.S. Drought Monitor, every state in the country had at least a small area shown as abnormally dry or worse. “It’s such a broad footprint,” he said.

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The Great Plains to Midwest: Frontal showers and thunderstorms dropped locally an inch or more of rain over parts of the Dakotas, Upper Mississippi Valley, and southern Great Lakes. In the Dakotas and Minnesota it was enough to slightly trim a few of the drought areas, but the 2+ inches from southern Wisconsin to northern Indiana was able to only maintain status quo. Most other areas were not as lucky. Pasture, rangeland, and crop condition continued to deteriorate from the Colorado High Plains to the Ohio and Mid-Mississippi valleys, and from Oklahoma to the Dakotas. Temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter across parts of the Great Plains to Midwest every day this week, and some locations have not had significant rain for the last 30 days.

July 22 USDA statistics indicated over 90 percent of the topsoil was short or very short of moisture in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, with virtually all (99 percent) short or very short in Missouri and Illinois. Over 80 percent of the pasture and rangeland was in poor or very poor condition in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Corn, Soybean, Sorghum, and Alfalfa losses continued to mount, ponds dried up, and wells failed in several of the states. D0-D4 expanded region-wide